When there’s BBQ ribs to be eaten, it’s every man for himself.
Wait, that’s sexist. Let me rephrase.
When there’s BBQ ribs to be eaten, it’s every mf’er for themselves.
Happy Labor Day!
Happy Labor Day
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
People Who “Rescued” Their Dog
How did you rescue it? Run into a burning warehouse? Punch a bear in the face?
No — you got the dog at the pound because you’re too cheap to buy one.
Marco Polo
“You can’t fool me. I investigate things. I’m like Marco Polo.”
“I don’t understand. How are you like Marco Polo?”
“I investigate things.”
“Are you thinking Marco Polo was a detective?”
“Yeah. That guy who died last year.”
“You mean Columbo?”
“Right, Columbo.”
User-Centered Design
Design should:
- Make it easy to determine what actions are possible at any moment (make use of constraints).
- Make things visible, including the conceptual model of the system, the alternative actions, and the results of actions.
- Make it easy to evaluate the state of the system.
- Follow natural mappings between intentions and the required actions; between actions and the resulting effect; and between the information that is visible and the interpretation of the system state.
In other words, make sure that (1) the user can figure out what to do, and (2) the user can tell what is going on.
Start by Visualizing Perfection
One can come at improvement from two angles:
- How can we make things suck less? or
- What is the ideal state that we should shoot for?
I’m for the second option. It is the classic Lean approach to improvement, BTW: Start by visualizing perfection.
Refrigerators
Office email:
A friendly reminder that all refrigerators will be cleaned out this Sunday. Please take anything home that you do not want thrown out.
I do not want this carton of Macadamia Vanilla Bean ice cream to be thrown out.
Wait — does it matter if I brought the item in, or just that I don’t want it to be thrown out?
Let Me Save You Some Time
Are you sick and tired of . . . ?
Fill in anything and my answer will probably be yes.
Human Slingshot Slip and Slide
This Explains a Lot
When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of schoolchildren.
Success will never be a big step in the future; success is a small step taken just now. — Jonatan Mårtensson
Aside
Signal vs. Noise: A shorthand for designing UI flows
What Are the Laker Girls Going to Do?
The Laker Girls 2011 squad has been selected. (You can watch the auditions.) But with no Laker games, what are they going to do?
Idea: Come over to the office, stand behind me all day and dance around every time I school someone.
“Bob, let me be direct. Your idea has one problem. It’s stupid.”
OHHHHHHH! Loud music! Dancing! Cheering!
Whitewater Adventures are for Pussies, or: A Rube in a Tube
A man from West Plains, Mo., has been found dead floating in the Meramec River after he disappeared from a tubing trip.
Gregory L. Spurling, 55, was pronounced dead at about 12:50 a.m. Monday in Crawford County.
Kudos to Gregory L. Spurling, formerly of West Plains, Mo. — a real American!
Frankly, I’m sick of these soft yuppie bastards who pay big money for “whitewater adventures” and pass themselves off as thrillseekers.
Those trips are no more dangerous than a raft ride at Disney World.
Riding down a river in an inner tube — now that’s excitement! You might die! Especially if your judgment’s been impaired by the consumption of alcohol.
Don’t forget the sunscreen!
Aside
Tiny Buddha: 50 Ways to Find Inspiration
Your Time is Limited
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Some of You Pricks Should Be Billionaires
Disagreeable Men Earn More Than Nice Guys — Harvard Business Review
Saying No to 1,000 Things
[Innovation] comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
Aside
Aside
Top 100 Agile Books – A list by Jurgen Appelo
Lean Startup 101 for Developers
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/15567269]